Annieontour

At the Hen, Becky was the BEST mc!
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Well I suppose my travel started when I left home - although THAT is a debatable date, as I spent most of the latter part of the summer coming and going from Ireland to the UK sewing a certain wedding dress!  So I think it was the 'hen' weekend at the beginning of October.  Hence these photos! But more of that below...

So really the travel idea all really started when I had the flu and was bored in bed about 2 years ago and decided to track down old friends by phone (like I do sometimes as some of you will know!) Tried to get Dominique in Brighton and got hold of her husband Mike, who said she was in the Falklands and he was just about to join her!  Well, to cut this long story short we had an e mail exchange over the next few months and at some point she said 'get yer skates on get out here'

telling revealing tales.........
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Well as its nothing but sea between West Cork and the Falklands that wasn’t going to work as the Atlantic doesn't freeze all the way down, so I started looking into flying instead - THEN she went to Antarctica and said 'you gotta do that!´- THATS how it started - or maybe it was years before, when my brother went off on the Pillock trip.......or maybe its in the genes......but that’s another couple of stories entirely!! (click on Annie King, above!)

Anyway, the whole thing became shot to insignificance by the event of the year (for me and I think for two other people in particular) Melissa and Ben’s wedding of course and the vast challenge of making the wedding dress to Melissa’s design and specifications (which I hope I did, darling - although you certainly looked fabulous on the day regardless!!!)

..............and embarassing stories..
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So the story begins when I left home to go to Brighton for the weekend for Melissa’s Hen do - hence the photos which accompany this intro! For that weekend I was the 'mamarazzi' photographer and was bringing traffic in Brighton to a halt in order to get the best angles on Melissa's sequined and feathered entourage....

I went to Brighton on the Saturday with Karen and we met the other girls – Becky, Jess, Alison, Lizzie, Lizi, Emma, Natasha, Blanche, Charlotte and Derah and of course Melissa, in the hostel - the Grapevine on the seafront. Karen and I had a great view over the sea – but a very noisy bar right below us!! Most of the others had been there since the night before and they were, when we arrived, scattered around Brightohn doing ‘preparation’ things for the evening – we were booked to go to a Thai restaurant, the Sawadee, in Kemptown.

.....and Melissa listened..........
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Becky and Jessica and the others had produced embarrassing photos of Melissa and plastered the places they were going to with them. Except for the night club I think (it was too dark to see there, so I couldn’t see if there were or not!), the Funky Fish, where we all went to boogie after the meal.

Over the dinner Becky was the BEST mc, and kept us all in order with some ridiculous rules and regulations that all seemed to mean a lot of drinking whether you got it right or wrong! It was a lovely evening, loads of laughing and Melissa looked fabulous in red feathers and halterneck flamenco dress of her sisters – and she didn’t know any of this was going to happen!

......and squirmed.........
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In the afternoon they had all been painting pottery for her at a place "Glazed Expressions" in the North Lanes, which all went to Melissa and Ben as presents and a long lasting fabulous memento of a great time. And the next morning? Well there were some rather green 'glazed expressions' as we all met at the ‘Dumb Waiter’ vege café also in the North Lanes where Jess used to work. We all ate a hearty breakfast though, and some of us replenised our vitamins at 'Sejuice' a really healthy juice bar also in the north lanes. It was a GREAT weekend, I was so pleased to have gone along and wouldn't have missed it for the world - but an even  better weekend was to follow in a couple of weeks!!!

.....and sometimes wasn't amused..........
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For me the intervening period was spent tied to the sewing machine at Karens – except for a quick flight back to Ireland for Maureen O’Sullivans 50^th party – Teddy Bears Picnic of all things! – so we all turned up to Glengarrif Woods with our teddy bears and then onto her house for the evening – and, thanks to Maureen, it also felt like my send off as I was able to say goodbye as everyone I know was there!

And then it was the wedding – a totally other story which deserves a web site of its own! This was the BEST wedding I have ever been to and it was so special to see all Melissa and Bens friends and all the family, and I didn’t think I would, but I instinctively cried as soon as she appeared! The dresses turned out fab and the men all looked smart and the hall – Ramsters, in Chiddingfold – was the most special venue!

....and sometimes wasn't impressed.......
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And then – then I was off in a couple of days………………to Buenos Aries first stop